"Within
each individual's persona, there rage two different entities. On one
side, there is the 'child' that strives to learn new things, to
experience the world as if he would never have the opportunity to do
so a second time, and to liberate the mind from its 'prison' of
excessive rationality. On the other side, there is the bleak
'rationalist' that seeks to imprison the dreaming 'child'; to the
rationalist, dreaming is self-deception. Would you rather be
imprisoned or deceived?"

Dmitri
Shostakovich

It
had been three days since the professor taught me the legend behind
the altar. Still, I seemed to be lost in a pool of confusion which
had no end to its depth; apparently, I still had to undertake the
task of reviving my own ability to dream before I could help others
to do so. This was not easy to do; of course, I believed that the
authoritarian government had destroyed the people's urge to imagine
that the world could be better, but last night, I almost lost the
drive to continue upon this journey. I didn't tell Professor Yevgeny,
but last night, as I was preparing to fall asleep, I suddenly began
to think pessimistically about this whole journey. What if this did
not work? What if our painstaking efforts to liberate the nation
actually did nothing more than 'imprison' us much more? In the end,
it won't matter about our efforts; rather, it will be up to the
people to pursue their own dreams...

After
gathering our belongings and putting the fire out, we left the small
cave that we had slept in the previous night and continued our
journey. Luckily for us, though the temperature was frigid, the sun
was shining brightly. Professor Yevgeny called this occurrence
"освобождение",
which means "liberation" in Russian. "I call it that because
we, being the future 'liberators' of the glorious 'Motherland', are
destined to BE liberated by such beautiful weather today! Helios
surely smiles upon our efforts!" he said joyfully. Asides from the
great weather, however, I believe that Yevgeny was implying that we
were "liberated" from something else; but what is it? Besides the
weather, what else could be 'imprisoning' us? Philosophers could be
so vague sometimes...

That day seemed long and monotonous; it seemed that we
traveled...and traveled...and traveled...and yet, it seemed that
we weren't gaining any ground. Maybe Yevgeny was implying that we
were bound in a perpetual "prison" of inclement weather; and yet,
it also seemed that this idea of "moving yet never gaining ground"
was a prevalent flaw in our country...

Eventually, the sun progressively stopped shining as brightly as
before; it became darker by the hour, then by the minute, then every
thirty seconds. As we further progressed into Siberia, we began to
see decayed skeletons. We were truly entering the depths of the
underworld itself. Of course, Siberia was the place where the
government sent international prisoners; they simply flew them to the
central part of the frozen wastelands and left them there. Though it
is one of the most vile, unspeakable ways in which to punish an
individual, it also tests an individual's will to live. It is
reputed that if one was to reach the cities, then they would be free.
But what right did the government have to determine whether one
should live? And who or what could possibly "test" this
authoritarian government's "will to exist"?

After passing a host of unfortunate prisoners, I looked at the sky
and saw that it was pitch black. I knew that soon we would have to
retire and resume the next day, but we were no where near a cave.
But after about four minutes of walking, we came upon a camp. I was
ecstatic about actually finding another party of humans in this harsh
environment; Professor Yevgeny, however, was very vigilant.

As we came closer to the camp, we realized that it was a military
camp; the inhabitants were Soviet soldiers. Immediately, I turned to
the professor, who was also stunned. By the blank expression on his
face, he obviously wasn't expecting these uninvited guests...

"Mikhail, this is a serious complication to our journey. It seems
that we shall have to take a different path, thus negating the
planning that I had put into this journey," I heard him blandly
say. What did this mean? Are they following us? If so, why? If not,
then why are they in the middle of the Siberian plains? The military
doesn't normally come here unless by the air; however, I did not see
any planes. They have to be following us...

"Mikhail, I believe that they have come to destroy the altar and
the monuments. If they eradicate those ancient remnants, then they
can further execute their propaganda of 'intellectual tyranny',"
Professor Yevgeny said.

At that moment, that voice rang out again, and by the sudden smile
on the professor's face, it was evident that Professor Yevgeny could
understand exactly what the voice was saying, even though it was
inside of me. Whose voice this was, I didn't know, but I heard it
say: "If they have brought their soldiers to contain two unarmed
people on a mission to liberate the people, then they must be
mistaken. Who are they to think that they can bind the human
intellect by destroying the monuments and the altar? The power to
dream and think independently isn't within the altar or the
"doorways"; it is within the people themselves. If they want to
wage a physical war against two unarmed but intellectually-freed
people, then there is no way that they can win the war within their
own souls. There rages within each of us a war, in which the desires
of the soul attempt to overcome the delusions of rationality. The
soul's innermost desires always win; no government can place
restrictions on the soul." I didn't know whose voice was ringing
within my soul, but it made me realize one thing: I had won my inner
"war", but it was up to me to help everyone else win this
"battle" that rages within...

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